


team building exercise

by taakofromtaz (octolingkiera)



Series: kiera's taz tumblr drabbles [4]
Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: A little angst, Gen, banter!!, i did a hit on angus tho :(, team bonding!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 11:59:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,607
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13523802
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/octolingkiera/pseuds/taakofromtaz
Summary: "It’s just a cut, really."(angus goes on a mission with the boys and bites off a little more than he can chew)tumblr prompt fill





	team building exercise

**Author's Note:**

> it ran long but it has some PRIMO banter lol
> 
> originally posted on tumblr. thanks again emily!

It’s not often that Angus gets invited on a mission with the Reclaimers. In fact, Angus can count on a single hand the amount of missions he’s been asked to physically go on while employed at the Bureau and the number is both a blessing and a point of utter frustration. He’s been working on his own for years now and this is the longest stretch of time he’s ever gone without some kind of action since he was given his first job. He can handle working on his own so, whether Madame Director meant to or not, Angus feels like he’s not being trusted to handle himself on the field.

It is _painfully_ obvious just how detrimental the unintended downtime has been for him the moment the four of them end up in a confrontation with a band of mercenaries.

Angus _tries_ to stay out of the fighting, really, he does. He sort of knows the way these three fight, having seen them on the train, so he falls back a few steps with Taako, keeping Magnus and Merle between them and the obvious threat.

Magnus rushes in waving Railsplitter with one hand and his shield with the other, Merle reads a passage from his bible in an effort to set up his Guardian of Faith, and Taako targets the weakest link to hit with a well-aimed Magic Missile.

Angus, meanwhile, is making a concentrated effort to both find a safe place to hide and formulate a plan of attack. Unfortunately, he failed to take the number of mercenaries when they first ran into them and the amount that the Reclaimers are fighting now.

The numbers don’t line up.

Before he can call out a warning, large hands grab him from behind, one around his waist and another covering his mouth. Angus screams anyway, the sound muffled, until his snatcher— _A rouge, obviously_ , Angus deduces—steps on his foot with a hissed, “Quiet, brat.”

Taako’s ears twitch and swivel and half a second later, Angus and the guy are pinned under Taako’s sharp stare. “Hey!” the elf shouts, twisting to face them. “Hands off the boy, dickweed!”

Magnus looks up from where he’s just downed one of the mercs. “Angus!” He kicks his opponent to the side and adjusts his stance, looking like he’s contemplating the best way to rush in. Merle glances at them as he finishes his spell. His guardian easily finishes off the mercs the three had been fighting and dissipates, leaving just the guy holding Angus up like a shield.

The rogue moves his hand away from Angus’s face to pull a knife out and lay it against the boy’s throat. He hides himself somewhat behind the boy and says, “Give me your shit or I kill the kid.” He shoves the knife just close enough to draw a bead of blood from Angus. It surprises him that a cut that small stings so much.

Taako shifts his weight and Angus can see him visibly fighting himself from saying something sarcastic. Angus is impressed at the self-control. Taako tightens his grip on the Umbra Staff and jams the tip into the ground. Behind Taako, Magnus shoulders his shield and moves into a two-handed stance and looks between Taako and Angus, twisting his hands around the handle of Railsplitter.

“Easy, now, fella. Let’s not get carried away,” Merle says, holding his hands up, his bible closed and held in one hand while the other remains flat and open.

The rogue jerks himself and Angus backwards. “One more step, old man, and the only thing that’s gonna get carried away is this kid’s corpse.”

“Oh, fuck this,” Taako says, and before anyone can comment, he lifts a hand, mutters a word in Elvish, snaps his fingers, and disappears.

Angus immediately recognizes the spell as Blink but the rogue obviously doesn’t, and jerks away from where Taako used to be, dragging the knife with him. Angus feels another sharp sting but thinks nothing of it as Taako reappears behind them and blasts the rogue with a wordless Fireball. The rouge screams and falls away from Angus, trying to put out the clothes he’s wearing that have caught aflame.

Taako jolts forward and catches Angus by the arm and drags him away from the mercenary while Magnus steps forward to finish him off. Taako stares hard at the boy, ducking his head down slightly to look at the scratch on Angus’s throat.

“I’m okay, sir. Really!” Angus waves a hand dismissively and gestures at Taako’s hand, still wrapped around Angus’s arm. “You can let go now.”

It takes Taako a second, but he does let go, jerking his hand away like it was his idea to release Angus to begin with. “Good. Wouldn’t want you to die a shitty wizard.”

Angus smiles widely at the elf as Taako sticks his nose up and lords his scant few inches over Angus. “Of course not, sir.”

Taako squints at the boy for a long moment before he huffs and struts off, swinging the Umbra Staff up onto his shoulder. “Whatever, ya little shit. Pay more attention next time, yeah?” Angus opens his mouth to answer, maybe accuse Taako of not paying attention either, but Taako continues talking. “Did’ja get ‘im, Mags?”

“Dead as dirt over here,” Magnus says, and kicks the rogue off, blowing the corpse a raspberry.

Angus laughs as Merle steps up to his said. “You good, kid?” the dwarf asks, wiggling his bible. “I can give ya a heal if ya need?”

“It’s just a cut, really,” Angus insists. “No need to waste slots on a little scratch, sir.”

Merle gives him a critical once over that says he doesn’t really believe Angus, but he doesn’t argue. “If you say so.”

“I do,” Angus says firmly, giving a decisive nod.

Merle rolls his eyes and trails after Taako, Magnus bounding up to his side in a couple of huge steps. The three start to chatter, Magnus leading the conversation with observations on how cool Taako and Merle’s magic is and how hard he hit the mercenaries. After a couple of minutes, Angus notices how warm his side feels. He dismisses it as the adrenaline of the situation wearing off.

Ten minutes later, he realizes that maybe he should have taken Merle’s offer for a heal seconds before his vision goes dark and he collapses.

Angus wakes up in Magnus’s lap. Merle is crouched beside him, his hands glowing as he channels Pan’s divinity in a healing spell. Taako is leaning against a nearby tree, his umbrella hooked over one of his crossed arms. He’s pointedly looking resolutely in a different direction. Angus keeps his eyes cracked as slightly as he can, feigning sleep.

After a minute, Merle’s hands stop glowing. “There, good as new. He might have a snarly scar, but it’s all healed up.” He pats his bible. “Thanks, big guy.”

“Good work, Merle,” Magnus says, smiling earnestly. He glances down at Angus. “Poor kid.”

Taako scoffs and turns to look at them. “‘Poor kid?’ He almost let himself die because he was too stubborn to say something.” Taako sighs, hard, and shakes his head. “Stupid.”

“What, like you haven’t done the same thing?” Magnus teases, cocking an eyebrow.

Taako glares at him, leaning more heavily against the tree. “Fuck you. I have _excellent_ self-preservation skills. Unlike _some people_ whose names rhyme with ‘ _Agnus_.’”

“And which one is that supposed to be?” Merle asks with a smirk.

Taako groans. Angus can’t see him all that well through his lashes, but it looks like Taako is fighting a smile. “Shut up, old man! I’m trying to be mad, here!”

“Doin’ a piss poor job of it.” Merle’s voice oozes petulance.

“Don’t worry, sir. I liked your goof,” Angus says, finally deciding he’d basically eavesdropped long enough.

“Angus! You’re awake!” Magnus smiles hugely down at him. “You really had us worried, bud!”

“You lost a lot of blood and that’s why you collapsed,” Merle tells him, gesturing to his side. It’s covered in blood and Angus has no idea how he didn’t notice it before. “You’re all good now, though.”

“What did I tell you about not dying?” Taako snaps, shoving himself off the tree and uncrossing his arms. The umbrella slides perfectly down his arm and dangles from his wrist and he puts his hands on his hips.

“Sorry, sir. I swear, I didn’t notice how injured I was!” Angus sits up with help from Magnus and watches as Taako’s face relaxes somewhat.

Taako waves a limp wristed hand at Angus and suddenly his clothes are clean, the blood prestidigitated away. “ _Pay more attention next time_ ,” Taako tells him for the second time in one day, and Angus flushes.

“Right. Sorry, sir.” He gives the Reclaimers a sheepish grin.

Magnus hugs him. “I’m just glad you’re okay!”

Merle pats him on the shoulder and he climbs to his feet. “Next time, kid, just take the healing, yeah?”

“You got it!” Angus gives a thumbs up and smile.

Magnus stands up and pulls Angus up and up until he’s sitting on the man’s shoulders. “C’mon, guys! We still got a mission to do!”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me,” Taako says, rolling his eyes and giving Angus one last hard look that ends with a single, quick wink. “Let’s get going. Preferably before I start to get old.”

“What, like you’re not already?”

“Very funny, old man!”

Magnus laughs underneath Angus and the boy smiles. These three might not be the nicest all the time but they _do_ care, even if they have a hard time showing it.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos and comments are much appreciated!
> 
> [check me out on tumblr!](https://taakofromtaz.tumblr.com/)


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